By Natela Cutter DLIFLC Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Force Education and Training, and the Department of Defense’s Senior Language Authority, Mr. Fred Drummond, received a tour of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey Nov. 15 and 16, during a two-day visit. Drummond observed a Russian language class and had an opportunity to talk with students, reply to their questions and learn about their intensive studies, that last 48 weeks, five days a week, six to seven hours per day. “I really appreciate the opportunity of being able to see what you do in the classroom and take back your story to Washington D.C. and the policy people. My job is to ensure you folks have everything you need to effectively learn foreign languages in support of the Services,” said Drummond, to a class of students studying Russian. Drummond also had the opportunity to see a demonstration of DLIFLC online foreign language products which are used as predeployment or sustainment materials for service members. On Nov. 16, Drummond chaired the language and culture Annual Program Review, held each year to review DLIFLC’s past progress and future plans for the upcoming fiscal year. Aside from the 20 or more outside visitors, some 50 members of the DLIFLC academic and military leadership participated in the event. DLIFLC teaches 17 foreign languages with the ability to instruct another 65 foreign languages through its Washington D.C., branch. The Institute has graduated more than 230,000 students since its inception in...

By Natela Cutter DLIFLC Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held a Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 9th on the upper Presidio of Monterey with military personnel, veterans, faculty, staff and students in attendance. “We are gathered here today to honor our Veterans, and to remember their courage and sacrifices they have made to defend this great nation of ours,” said guest speaker, Jerry Edelen, mayor of Del Rey Oaks. Attending the event were mayors and city officials of the seven surrounding municipalities. Earlier in the day, veterans and guests were invited to a social hour with light refreshments in order to mingle with your service members who study at DLIFLC. “This location that you have chosen to honor this special day is a fitting one,” said Edelen, pointing to the three slabs of the Berlin Wall that have been mounted in the upper courtyard of the Presidio of Monterey and serve as a reminder of the Cold War. “During the Cold War, I served behind this wall in the Berlin Brigade during the years 1985-1988,” said Edelen, himself a retired lieutenant colonel, Ranger and graduate of the West Point Academy. “You future veterans … study hard to master strategic languages so that you provide critical, timely information to your chain of command so that the right decisions can be made, battles can be won, and lives may be saved,” DLIFLC provides resident instruction in 17 languages at the Presidio of Monterey, California, with the capacity to instruct another 65 languages in Washington, D.C. The Institute has graduated more than 220,000 linguists since 1941. In...

By Brian Lepley Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – The eight other candidates for the Army’s 2017 AIT Platoon Sergeant of the Year can blame Leesa Brotherton. Staff Sgt. Bryan Ivery, the PSOY winner named at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Sept. 15, credits his hyper-competitiveness to his aunt Leesa. “We grew up together and she was 10 years older than me. We played all kinds of games and she showed me no mercy,” remembers Ivery. “I learned. Since I was young I have to bring my best to any competition I’m in.” “Iron sharpens iron” is Ivery’s motto, an ethos born from those losses to Brotherton as a child. His duty at Company B, 229th Military Intelligence Battalion, is preparing new arrivals for the academic rigor of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. “Motivation is definitely a driving factor in my day-to-day activities with these new Soldiers,” said Ivery, one of five platoon sergeants for the battalion’s Phase Four training. Co. B 1st Sgt. Clint Rowe and Ivery are products of DLIFLC, a joint service school where students can spend more than 18 months learning languages, dialects and cultures like Farsi, Arabic, Korean, Urdu and many others. “Staff Sgt. Ivery gets Soldiers right out of basic and brings them up to the level DLI and the Army needs them to be in order to succeed,” Rowe said. “His dedication and grit are paramount.” The Army AIT PSOY event, run by Training and Doctrine Command, was modeled on a hectic combat mission and tested that motivation, Ivery said. It was five days of strenuous tasks on a punishing schedule....

By Natela Cutter DLIFLC Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – “I believe the Army recognized it for what it is, and as a result I was selected for promotion to sergeant first class,” said Staff Sgt. Garrick Bartlett, who is a MLI in the Multi-Language School and has been recognized three times as the military instructor of the quarter, while simultaneously pursuing his Master degree in higher education. MLIs are a vital part of the education construct at DLIFLC, where eight separate foreign language schools are managed by a mix of military and civilian instructors and leadership. MLIs not only teach the foreign language in the schools, but also manage student linguist careers and maintain open channels of communication between civilian management and military units. “Our goal was to validate the role of the MLIs as instructors Army-wide and align them directly with their leader peers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Sean Cherland, adding that it is vital that Army “leadership outside of DLI is aware of their qualifications as instructors.” “Historically, the role of MLIs is not well understood outside of DLI and was seldom acknowledged by TRADOC. They only received a local badge….and didn’t have anything that recognized them Army-wide,” Cherland said. In the making for more than two years, the key to success for the program was the enabling of the MLI’s to complete the Army Training and Doctrine Command course called the Foundation Instructor Facilitator Course, which is designed to train new instructors on how facilitate basic courses and learn instructional techniques. In the making for more than two years, the key to success for the program was the...